The Buzz

Residents of the West Village are peeved at Sarah Jessica Parker for shooting a series of promotional photos for her footwear range in front of 66 Perry St., the brownstone made famous on Sex and the City. The residents of the flat say that Parker held an unauthorized photoshoot in front of their house, lining up her new shoes on their steps. They’re annoyed because they already have to deal with tourists coming to see the building on a regular basis. They’ve even roped off the stairs leading up to the doorway to prevent foot traffic on Carrie Bradshaw’s hallowed staircase. A source tells Page Six, “SJP has ignored their requests for an explanation on how she could endorse the shoot, even though ‘no trespassing’ signs are posted. SJP used their house during the years of filming, and now won’t acknowledge that she and her company used the steps and facade, this time without permission, to promote her shoe line.”

It must be frustrating when your house is a cultural landmark, but it’s not like the owners didn’t know what they were getting into when they moved there. Thanks to Parker and the show, if they do get fed up and want to move, they’ll probably be able to sell the place at a significant profit since it is such a desirable address. That being said, a location fee — or at least permission — would have been a better course of action in this case.

Vivienne Westwood’s memoir, co-authored by Ian Kelly, has plenty of juicy bits about the designer’s life and work, but this latest story to come from the tome may be one of the juiciest. Author Paul Gorman says the designer and Kelly plagiarized up to 40 passages from his 2001 book, The Look: Adventures in Rock and Pop Fashion,for the new memoir. Gorman claims that his words were taken, sometimes verbatim, without crediting his original work, though he does say there are passages with proper attribution.

Gorman’s beef isn’t with Westwood, however. It’s with Kelly and the publisher. Quotes that came from his book have been attributed as Westwood’s own. The wording of one particular passage, he says, bears a strong resemblance to a line from the introduction to his book written by Malcolm McLaren 13 years ago. And indeed, the similarities are quite glaring. The Telegraph explains: “On page 10 of The Look, McLaren writes: ‘Sex translated in fashion becomes fetish, and fetishism is the very embodiment of youth.’ On page 161 of Vivienne Westwood a near-identical quote is attributed to Westwood by Ian Kelly, claims Gorman: ‘Sex, Vivienne tells me, translated into fashion becomes fetish. And fetishism — the exhilarating liminal space between life-affirming sex, and death is the very embodiment of youth’s assumption to mortality.'” Oops!

That’s a little too close for comfort. It seems that Gorman’s work inspired Kelly so much, he either didn’t realize he was lifting copy or he simply didn’t think anyone would notice. It’s also quite surprising that this would happen, especially since Kelly had Westwood, the ultimate primary source, helping him put the book together. If he needed a quote, we’re pretty sure it would have been no trouble at all for Westwood to provide one. She is, after all, the number one expert on her own life.

If there’s one thing that Mollie King is great at when she’s not doing her day job as a pop star, it’s compiling a must-have edit for a fashion retailer. We loved the results when she collaborated with Oasis, and this fall she’s joined forces with Folli Follie to showcase her picks from its fall accessories and jewellery collection.

A photo posted by Folli Follie Official (@follifollie) on Oct 10, 2014 at 1:43pm PDT

From sumptuous red to statement-making orange, the brand’s new handbags come awash with vibrant hues that are perfect for infusing your autumn wardrobe with a splash of colour. Or, of course, you can still play it classic with the options of black or neutral greys. The Heart4Heart bag is a great piece for adding a little bit of luxe into your everyday style thanks to its quilt-effect finish. If you’re looking for something that will take you from day to night, however, then Mollie’s pick of the timeless Nomad shoulder bag will tick that box.

A photo posted by Folli Follie Official (@follifollie) on Oct 10, 2014 at 1:41pm PDT

If you’ve already got your new bag for fall sorted, then that just leaves some new season jewellery on your list, so take some inspiration from Mollie’s selection of simple bracelets and delicate necklaces in on-trend rose gold or silver. Sometimes it’s the simplest pieces that can create the biggest statement when completing an outfit. (more…)

Naomi Watts has been snapped on the streets of New York sporting two black-leather Givenchy bags, including a crossbody tassled purse and an overnight-type bag on her strong elbow, because just one simply isn’t enough. At the risk of looking like a bag lady, the Australian actress showed she was anything but in her classy, expensive-looking getup.

Naomi stuck to a contrasting nude-and-black outfit, which included a cream wrap-around coat, black wet-look leggings, strappy pumps and a wide-brim hat. Even her black toenails were coordinated into the colour palette, because matching every last detail is all the rage right now.

If you think the nudes and black were well thought out, then take into account the hints of gold, including her shoes detail, bag zippers and buckles, bracelet, and, well, her keys, which she’s also cleverly incorporated. All of a sudden the gold-adorned Givenchy double-up makes perfect sense. But, really, she could’ve slipped the baby purse into the bigger bag, just to make us feel better about ourselves.

Lucky has tapped our very own Rose Byrne as its cover girl for November 2014, with the Australian actress reliving some bad style memories in her interview with the magazine. Hard to fathom, we know, but apparently Rose hasn’t always had a knack for fashion.

“I was desperately trying to be a hippie,” Rose toldLucky. “Oh, I went through some pretty bad phases growing up.” Referring to her days as a 13-year-old, Rose said, “I used to wear really bad Doc Martens boots—that looked terrible on me—and green crochet dresses, braid my hair and go to Lenny Kravitz concerts.”

”Another styling trick involved pairing tie-dye T-shirts with bike shorts and high-top Reeboks,” she added. “I don’t know what was going on there.” We’re not sure if Rose’s teenage fashion phase was “bad,” so to speak, but it’s just a little different to what she delivers us nowadays.

Take one step into a modern-day music festival and we don’t think there’d be a shortage of Dr. Martens and tie-dye pieces. You were way ahead of the trends, Rose!

This story is still developing. De la Renta was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, though it is still unclear if that is the cause of his death.

The fashion world has lost a true talent and an icon, one of the most celebrated and prominent designers today.

UPDATE: Oscar de la Renta’s stepdaughter and son-in-law Eliza and Alex Bolen have released a handwritten statement on their website mourning the late designer. “He died exactly as he lived: with tremendous grace, great dignity, and very much on his own terms.” (more…)